Corporate direct purchases of renewable energy at new high

Jan 31, 2019

Corporate customers purchased a record 6,430 MW of shares of off-site renewable power in the US in2018 as of December 14, more than double the 2,780 MW purchased in 2017. The Business RenewablesCenter recently published this result of its latest market update. These figures do not count theinstallation of renewable generation sources directly on commercial and industrial sites, which are notreported publicly. The various types of corporate renewable transactions include off-site powerpurchase agreements (PPAs), purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), green tariffs, other utilitysolutions, as well as outright corporate investment in projects. By far the largest of such purchasers wasFacebook with 1,894.5 MW, followed by AT&amp;T with 820 MW and Walmart with 533 MW. The surveyshowed that there were 70 companies doing such purchases from more than 60 sellers. One projectionis that these kinds of purchases could top 60,000 MW by 2025. This is a healthy, booming market not tobe overlooked. Take a look at the report for more details.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.